Comet Mine

The Comet Mine is a gold, silver, and lead mine located in Jefferson county, Montana at an elevation of 6,401 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Comet Mine

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Primary: Lead
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Antimony

Location

State: Montana
County: Jefferson
District: Basin (Cataract, Comet) District

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Type: Surface/Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: R. H. Mills, Spokane, Wa

Production

Year: 1959
Time Period: 1880-1959
Mined: 1327200.000 mt
Material type: ore

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Polymetallic veins
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1880
Discovery Year: 1874
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Form: SHOOTS; LENTICULAR

Structure

Type: R
Description: Boulder Batholith; South-Trending Syncline In Elkhorn Mountains Volcanics

Type: L
Description: Comet - Gray Eagle Shear Zone, Veins Offset By Small Cross-Faults, Roof Pendant Of Volcanic Rocks

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Most Rocks In Shear Zone Altered To Sericite And Clay Minerals. It Is Also Tourmalinized, Many Well-Developed Radial Groups Of Tourmaline. Oxidation Also Occurs.

Rocks

Name: Quartz Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Name: Quartz Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: SELECTED SPECIMENS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL FROM DUMP CONTAINED AS MUCH AS 0.52% U. 0.084 OZ/TON AU, 6.4 OZ/TON AG, 3.2-11.8 % PB, 3.9-7.3 % ZN, 0.9-2.2 % CU. OXIDIZED ORE: 0.24 OZ/TON AU, 16 OZ/TON AG, 15% PB.

Materials

Ore: Galena
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Tourmaline

Comments

Comment (Location): UTM LOCATION OF COMET SHAFT . AT HEAD OF HIGH ORE CR.

Comment (Exploration): 1876 - FIRST MENTION OF COMET MINE IN R.W. RAYMOND?S REPORT ON STATISTICS OF MINES AND MINING ETC. 1881-1882 - ALTA MONTANA MINING COMPANY OPERATED (FIRST ATTEMPT AT LARGE SCALE MINING); 25 TON PER DAY MILL OPERATED. 1883 - HELENA MINING AND REDUCTION COMPANY PURCHASED PROPERTY; ALSO KNOWN AS THE ?HELENA AND LIVINGSTON SMELTING AND REDUCTION COMPANY??. 1884 - COMET CONCENTRATOR CAPACITY INCREASED FROM 35 TO 120 TONS. 20,883 TONS OF ORE PRODUCED. 1893 - MINE REPORTED TO HAVE SHUT DOWN OR NOT SHUT DOWN IN SILVER PANIC. 1897 - MINE SHUT DOWN. 1906 - MONTANA CONSOLIDATED COPPER COMPANY SHIPPED ORE. 1907 - MCC DEEPENED SHAFT TO 600 FEET. 1912 - NORTHWESTERN METALS COMPANY. 1918 - PILGRIM MINING COMPANY. 1919 - MONTANA CONSOLIDATED MINES COMPANY. ? - BASIN-MONTANA TUNNEL COMPANY. 1925 - 11,876 TONS OLD TAILINGS SHIPPED FROM JIB AND COMET. 1926 - 977 TONS OF TAILINGS TREATED IN BUTTE. BASIN MONTANA TUNNEL COMPANY WAS ORGANIZED AND ACQUIRED THE COMET. 1927 - BASIN-MONTANA TUNNEL COMPANY PURCHASES PROPERTY BUT OTHER PEOPLE OPERATE IT UNTIL 1931 WHEN BASIN-MONTANA TUNNEL COMPANY TAKES OVER OPERATION; BUILT 200 TON-PER-DAY FLOTATION MILL. 1928 - <100 TONS OF ORE SHIPPED, 4,978 TONS OF TAILINGS SHIPPED. 1929 - 800 TONS OF SULFIDE LEAD ORE FOR SMELTING, 12,000 TONS PB-ZN ORE FOR MILLING, 5,000 TONS OF TAILINGS SHIPPED. 1930 - 400 TONS SULFIDE LEAD ORE, 9,000 TONS OF PB-ZN ORE. 1941 - MILL CLOSED AND DISMANTLED 1963 - OWNER FRANK ROWE 1966 - PRODUCED 500 TONS OF ORE. 1967 - INACTIVE 1982-83 - DEVELOPING 1985 - INACTIVE 1986 - HIGH RIVER RESOURCES, LTD. DRILL PROGRAM, 5,165 FEET OF RVC DRILLED; ACQUIRED PROPERTY FROM CONCORDE MINES, LTD. 1989 - PEGASUS OPTIONS COMET FROM HIGH RIVER GOLD MINES.

Comment (Production): $13,000,000 PRIOR TO 1911 (KNOPF, 1913). TOTAL PRODUCTION MAY HAVE EXCEEDED $20,000,000 (BECRAFT AND OTHERS, 1963). SINCE 1902, PRODUCTION TOTALED: 496,086 TONS ORE YIELDING 42,443 FINE OZ AU, 3,117,779 FINE OZ AG, 2,235,676 LBS CU, 28,535,228 LBS PB, AND 23,486,020 LBS ZN (KNOPF, 1913); TOTAL RECORDED PRODUCTION FROM 1904 TO 1950 WAS 493,444 TONS ORE YIELDING 41,754 OZ AU, 3,152,896 OZ AG, 28,222,300 LBS PB, 23,835,847 LBS ZN, AND 2,234,353 LBS CU (BECRAFT AND OTHERS, 1963) (MAY HAVE SOME PRODUCTION FROM OTHER MINES IN THE AREA INCLUDED). 1884 - 20,883 TONS ORE (~$600,000) PB - 6,837,031 POUNDS. 1885 - AU - 76,172.09; AG - 631,430.10; PB - 6,837,031 POUNDS 1886 - AU - $70,531.99; AG - $546,513.91; ~4,650,000 POUNDS 1887 - AU - $220,565.44; AG - $675,927.75; ~7,652,250 POUNDS 1888 - AU - $202,211.51; AG - $1,109,181.50; 1889 - NO MENTION. 1928 - <100 TONS OF ORE SHIPPED, 4,978 TONS OF TAILINGS SHIPPED. 1929 - 800 TONS OF SULFIDE LEAD ORE FOR SMELTING, 12,000 TONS PB-ZN ORE FOR MILLING, 5,000 TONS OF TAILINGS SHIPPED. 1930 - 400 TONS SULFIDE LEAD ORE, 9,000 TONS OF PB-ZN ORE.

Comment (Commodity): ORE TENOR FROM 1901 TO 1950 AVERAGED 0.084 OPT AU, 6.4 OPT AG, 3.2% PB, 3.9% ZN, AND 2.2% CU. AVERAGE COPPER CONTENT OF VEIN WAS ABOUT 0.25% AND IRON AVERAGED ABOUT 12% (BECRAFT AND OTHERS, 1963). THE SPHALERITE HAS EXSOLVED CHALCOPYRITE (BECRAFT, 1953). ASSAY INDICATED 2 TO 2.2% URANIUM (BECRAFT, 1953).

Comment (Production): PRODUCTION PRIOR TO 1902 ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT $13,000,000. VALUE ASSUMED TO BE IN AU AND AG, PRODUCTION ESTIMATED USING 1902-1952 AU/AG RATIO AND LATE 1800'S METAL PRICES.

Comment (Deposit): 3 MAIN VEINS OCCUPY A FRACTURED, ALTERED, AND MINERALIZED ZONE ABOUT 150 FT WIDE ON THE 100 FT LEVEL. THE VEINS DIVERGE FURTHER DOWNWARD. AT THE 300 FT LEVEL IT IS 400 FT WIDE.E OF SHAFT THE VEINS ARE CUT BY A QUARTZ LATITE DIKE THAT STRIKES N 20 E AND DIPS 57 W. THE MAX. LENGTH OF ANY ORE BODY IS 600 FT. THE N AND S VEINS CONTAIN LARGE OVERLAPPING ORE BODIES ON DIFFERENT STRANDS OF THE SAME VEIN. THE MIDDLE VEIN CONTAINED ONE ORE BODY THAT WAS MINED FROM 400 FT LEVEL TO THE SURFACE.

Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED BY A 900 FT VERTICAL SHAFT WITH 9 LEVELS WITH MOST MINE DEVELOPMENT ON UPPER 7 LEVELS. ALL INACCESSIBLE IN 1950.

Comment (Deposit): THE COMET MINE HAS BEEN AN UNUSUALLY CONSISTANT PRODUCER. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

References

Reference (Production): MBMG BULL. 16, USGS PROF. PAPER 428

Reference (Deposit): MBMG BULL 16, P. 26, 27.

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 527, P. 114-15.

Reference (Deposit): USGS BULL 842, P. 243-4

Reference (Deposit): USGS PP 428, P. 28, 36, 40, 49, 53, 84.

Principal Gold Districts of Montana

In Montana, 54 mining districts have each have produced more than 10,000 ounces of gold. The largest producers are Butte, Helena, Marysville, and Virginia City, each having produced more than one million ounces. Twenty seven other districts are each credited with between 100,000 and one million ounces of gold production. Read more: Principal Gold Districts of Montana.